War of Miracles

The Rebellion

Chapter 3 The Rebellion

Mira sighed and leaned her head back against the wall of her office. Tomo and Leo hand set out for the human kingdom earlier that day, and the day before Aki and Lina had left for the elven kingdom. Nagi and Aeon were helping train the new troops, so she was alone for the first time in a long time. As she sat there she began to think about the last year.

It hurt to think of it. They had returned to the village the afternoon after the attack, and found it burned to the ground. As they walked through the village looking for survivors and supplies, she had seen the bodies, burned beyond recognition, scattered around the village. Seeing a doll lying on the ground she had reached down to pick it up, but when her fingers touched it she saw something horrible.

It had been as though she was there, in the village, during the attack. She'd seen the soldiers searching the houses, searching for her, and heard the terrified cries of children and women. When they had arrived at the house she and her family had shared, they went in and found something she shouldn't have left behind. A Phiara, an image magically projected onto special parchment, of the whole family. She and her mother sat in the front, and her father and brothers stood behind them.

The soldiers had grabbed her father's tunic and demanded to know where she was. He didn't answer and they slammed him against the wall, and again demanded to know where she had gone. He kept his mouth shut and they let him go. That's when the real nightmare had begun.

The soldiers forced every citizen of the village into their homes, and sealed all the doors and windows. Once all the buildings were sealed, they set fire to the village. The screams were more than she could bear, as the villagers, her precious family, died in the flames. She'd called out their names, ran to their houses, she'd tried to save them, forgetting it was only a vision of the past.

She'd snapped out of it and found her brothers gazing worriedly at her. She felt tears of horror and guilt well up in her eyes, and threw herself into Nagi's arms with a heart wrenching sob. Tears poured down her face, as she realized everything that had happened to the village was all her fault. The sobs wracked her body, and she felt like she was falling apart. She didn't know how long she cried, she didn't care. It was the only thing she could do. She couldn't save them, but she could cry for them. She could cry for the loss, the death, and the destruction she had unknowingly unleashed on the the people she loved.

When she had calmed down, she'd told her brothers what she had seen. They were horrified and enraged at the brutality the soldiers had displayed.

"We should go after them and teach them a lesson," Tomo had said without thought.

"No," Aki had told him," We'd only get ourselves killed."

"So were just going to let them get away with killing our friends and family?" Tomo had said heatedly," I won't....."

"No Tomo," Mira had said quietly," We aren't going to let them get away with it."

They had stared at her in shock.

"How.....," Nagi had begun but she cut him off.

"I'll explain later," she had told them,"but for now we have to leave. It's not safe here."

They had made camp in the forest and she outlined her plan. She had explained that she was going to start a rebellion. She'd gather all the half-elves and half-elf sympathizers she could, and she would declare war on the humans and the elves.

"That might work," Aki had said," There has been a lot of protest against half-elf prejudice lately, and some half-elves can use magic."

They had agreed to support her in her plan, but none of them knew where to start. They had traveled to the nearest city, Cavan, and there they had met Lina.

Lina was a lithe young woman, with blond hair and green eyes. She was also a half-elf, though it wasn't obvious. Some half-elves could pass for human or elven, and Lina was one of those few. After helping them out of a tight spot with a group of soldiers,(It turned out that Mira and her brothers were wanted fugitives) she had offered them a place to stay. They told her their plan and she had surprised them with full support and an idea.

"I know someone who might be able to help you," Lina had told them," He's a half-elf who lives here in this city, and he's a genius strategist."

Lina had taken them to a rundown building that looked as if hadn't been lived in for years. She knocked, first three times, then once, then three times again, and the door had been opened by Leo.

"Who are these people Lina?" he had said, enraged," What are they here for."

His attitude had ticked Mira off immediately.

"I am Mira Clessendaughter," she had said,"the daughter of the Elven Queen, Sia, and the Human King, Ral."

Leo had looked at Mira suspiciously.

"How can I be sure you're telling the truth?" he had said," You could be a spy trying to locate Aeon for the Queen."

Mira then pulled the royal mantel from her backpack, and showed it to him. His eyes had widened as he took it in his hands.

"I..I apologize for my rudeness, Your Highness," he had said,"I will take you to Aeon."

Aeon had met with Mira and vowed to serve her. He'd listened to her idea and told her to start a rumor.

"A rumor?" she'd said, puzzled,"How will that help?"

"Start a rumor that a half-elf of high standing is recruiting for a rebellion," he'd said," Those who believe it's worth checking out will come, meet with me, Leo, Lina, or one of your brothers, and spread the word to others who would help us. That way, no one who doesn't need to know will know, and we'll get a fair amount of people within a few days."

And so it had started. Within the first six months they had gathered almost 5 million followers, and they moved on to the next step of their plan. Aeon had suggested they contact the dwarven royal family, and request funding and supplies. Trusting his judgment she and a small detachment of guards had gone to the dwarven kingdom and requested an audience with the king and queen. When it was granted she had explained her plan to them and they had listened intently.

"We'll support you as much as we are capable," said the king with such conviction it surprised her,"We believe it is wrong to persecute half-elves for something they cannot control."

They had then started making armor and weapons for her and her troops. They had also built the base and the training grounds the rebellion used.

The last thing they had needed was a name. Mira and the others decided on Draconia, the name of the ancient winged race of warriors who had lived on the planet at the beginning of time. It was said that the Draconia believed in equality for all creatures, and now the name was going to be used to win that very equality.

Thus the Half-Elf Liberation Front, Draconia, was born and soon the world would erupt into a war that would change the world, for better, or for worse.